US military officer sentenced to 15 years for “leaking” classified data on Russian aggression

13 November, 2024 Jack Teixeira. Photo: The New York Times Former US National Guard soldier Jack Teixeira was sentenced to 15 years in prison for "leaking" classified Pentagon documents about Russia's war against Ukraine.

AR reported on this. The federal court in Boston handed down the sentence on November 12. According to prosecutors, the defendant's actions jeopardized the national security of the country, endangered other servicemen, and damaged the United States' relations with its allies.

In March, Jack Teixeira, a former Massachusetts Air National Guard member, pleaded guilty to six counts of willfully storing and transmitting information relating to national defense.

Special forces near the residence of Jack Teixeira. April 2023. USA.

Photo credits: The New York Times

The sentence was passed more than a year after his arrest, which took place in April 2023. The US Prosecutor's Office demanded almost 17 years in prison for the defendant. Teixeira's lawyers asked the judge for 11 years in prison and argued that his actions were not intended to "harm the United States."

Jack Teixeira, a 22-year-old ex-serviceman who was an information technology specialist at Joint Base Cape Cod in Massachusetts, is known to have accessed classified materials, including maps, satellite images, and intelligence on US allies, and then published those documents on the Discord online platform. The documents he shared with the closed group members included confidential information about the Russian-Ukrainian war. This leak suggests that US intelligence receives information from almost every Russian intelligence service.

For example, one of the documents marked "Top Secret" discussed plans by the Russian General Staff to counter Western tanks in Ukraine.

The materials also demonstrate that U.S. intelligence agencies warned Kyiv about the timing of Russian strikes and even the specific targets of the attacks so that Ukraine could defend itself.